Latrese B. Carter

Latrese B. Carter is a native of Portsmouth, Virginia. She is a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School and studied Criminal Justice & Political Science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. After college, Latrese began her professional career as an advocate against Domestic Violence while working at the H.E.R. Shelter in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. While there, she conducted domestic violence/teen dating violence awareness workshops throughout the community and provided various services to women and their children who were victims of domestic violence, such as individual counseling, court advocacy services, and transitional services (after care). While at the H.E.R. Shelter, Latrese discovered her calling to the counseling field after witnessing that the victims that she had the opportunity to work with lacked three things: a high level of self-esteem, a positive self-image, and knowledge of self-worth. Since her early years in advocacy, Latrese has continued to serve victims of domestic violence by volunteering and donating to several agencies/non-profits that provide services to survivors of this silent killer; to include, My Help, My Hope Foundation, Women Called Moses, and the YWCA, just to name a few.

Latrese later transitioned into a career in which she could focus more on preventive services and began working as a therapeutic counselor at a foster care placing agency. She is now a Counselor/Life Coach by trade. In 2008, Latrese decided that she needed to continue her calling to help others to heal emotionally and to develop a positive self-image in a creative way. With that, she returned to her roots in the performing arts and founded the Gospel Theater Company, Faithwalk Productions. As a Playwright, Director, & Producer, Latrese used theater as a means of EDUTAINMENT. She used the stage to bring awareness to the community about various issues, such as homelessness, PTSD, domestic violence, addiction, and other underlying emotional factors that trap individuals emotionally, while utilizing her literary skills to send messages of hope, love, and transformation from victim to victor. Latrese’s talents have been showcased in many productions and her gifts of acting & singing have allowed her grace the stage with many in the entertainment field, to include performing for Star Jones at a luncheon sponsored by the Norfolk Chapter of the National Association of Professional Women and at the “Sistas In Step” Women’s Conference sponsored by the Women’s Economics Center at Norfolk State University with guest speaker Bishop Vashti McKenzie for Women’s History Month. She also performed her liberating, women’s empowering monologue, “If I’d Known Back Then What I Know Now”, at the Karen Clark-Sheard “Ladies First” Empowerment Summit as the opening act for National Recording Artist Vickie Winans at the Comedy Cafe’.  Her first Gospel stage play “Church Folk” debuted at Willett Hall Auditorium in June of 2009.